457th Air Expeditionary Group

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457th Air Expeditionary Group (AEG) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Europe. It activates or inactivates as needed and has supported Operation Iraqi Freedom, joint operations with the Tanzania Air Force Command, and Operation Odyssey Dawn.

World War II era (1943–1945)
The group began as the 457th Bombardment Group, activated July 1, 1943, at Geiger Field, Washington. It trained with the B-17 Flying Fortress and moved to Rapid City, Ephrata, and Wendover before arriving at RAF Glatton in England. As part of the Eighth Air Force, it flew 7,086 combat missions in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, targeting ball bearings, oil refineries, and aircraft factories. It supported D-Day landings and later operations such as Cobra, Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and Varsity. The group lost 83 B-17s and claimed 33 enemy aircraft destroyed. After V-E Day, it helped move prisoners of war from Austria to France and was inactivated in July 1945.

1993–1994
The group reappeared as the 457th Operations Group at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, under Air Mobility Command. It controlled KC-135R air refueling squadrons. The 11th Squadron was inactivated in 1994, while the 306th Squadron remained until October 1994. The group deployed personnel and aircraft to Aviano Air Base, Italy, and Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, to support Northern Watch and Southern Watch. The group was converted to provisional status in February 2001.

2003 Iraq War
The 457th Air Expeditionary Group was activated at RAF Fairford, England, in spring 2003 to support about a dozen B-52 bombers deployed from Minot AFB, North Dakota. The B-52s flew about 120 sorties in Iraq, including bombing and leaflet drops. On April 11, 2003, a 457th crew used the Litening II precision targeting pod on a B-52 for the first time in combat. The bombers returned to North Dakota on April 24, with some group personnel remaining to secure equipment.

Later activations
In 2008, the group had a three-month mission at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with an air control squadron and an air base squadron. In 2011, it was briefly active at Naval Station Rota, Spain, to support Operation Odyssey Dawn over Libya.